I do think that Wormtongue is overly sinister looking. A person in the position he's in would need to look a bit more trustworthy; no one would put their faith in someone that obviously snaky. I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but come on...!! However, this didn't really bother me while watching. What did bother me was that Theoden looked like the living dead, the implication being that this was because he was under a magical spell. What I had expected from reading the book is that Theoden's problem was more psychological than magical; he had listened to Wormtongue's poisonous words telling him that he was old and out of it for so ling that he had come to believe it. As the saying goes, you don't quit doing things because you get old; you get old because you quit doing things...or words to that effect. Since PJ said he didn't like obvious wizardry, I was surprised by his take on this scene. When I read it, it seemed to me that Gandalf didn't break a literal spell, but rather a metaphorical one. So this scene isn't what I expected; I would have liked a more subtle approach, but I think it was effective anyway.

As for the music - yeah, maybe it's a bit OTT, but it worked for me. I guess I have bad taste."The question isn't where, Constable, but when." - Inspector Spacetime